Confirmed with Link: Desharnais signed to a contract extension (4 years @ $3.5M/yr)

[Kjell Dahlin]

After receiving limited ice-time during the 2nd (well deserved: our 2nd and 3rd lines were going nowhere fast), Desharnais registered 2 points in the 3rd with a plus/minus of +3. Therrien sure knows how to push the right buttons!

It’s also a nice display of character from Desharnais.

 

[Dr Gonzo]

After receiving limited ice-time during the 2nd (well deserved: our 2nd and 3rd lines were going nowhere fast), Desharnais registered 2 points in the 3rd with a plus/minus of +3. Therrien sure knows how to push the right buttons!

It’s also a nice display of character from Desharnais.

To be honest I thought it was one of his weaker games this year (except for that pass to Gionta...damn) but he still managed to produce.

Goes to show 2 things.

1) He has an important role on our team, and we need him to produce if we want to succeed.

2) You are absolutely right when saying Therrien knows what buttons to push. Yes DD might have more "sheltered" minutes, or advantageous ice time, but he produces under those conditions, so it works. I would call that good coaching, rather than preferential treatment as some have suggested.

 

[Not The One]

That's not a massive difference at all.

The sample sizes are 73 and 98. Why don't you look up the scoring race 10 games into the season, every second year someone is on track to break Gretzky's 92 goal record.

For the record, the statistical error on faceoff performance is approximately:

sqrt(0.25/n), where n is the number of faceoffs.

So for Plekanec, it is (43.8 +/- 5.9)% in the playoffs, with only 68% certainty. "Coincidentally" enough, the 49% value that we know to be Plekanec's true performance after a decade in the league is within the range.

It was a similar thing last season.

PP FO W/L

Plekanec 77/82 48.4%
Desharnais 159/122 56.6%

Btw that number of PP FOW was tied for second-most in the league last year, behind Giroux. Among the top 30 players with the most PP FO, we was 9th in FO%, behind players like Toews, Pavelski, Giroux, Statsny, Daytsuk, Sedin and Kesler. Pretty good company. This year he's 16th (56%) in the same stat, but the limited sample size kills the usefullness of the stat.

 

[Kjell Dahlin]

To be honest I thought it was one of his weaker games this year (except for that pass to Gionta...damn) but he still managed to produce.

Goes to show 2 things.

1) He has an important role on our team, and we need him to produce if we want to succeed.

2) You are absolutely right when saying Therrien knows what buttons to push. Yes DD might have more "sheltered" minutes, or advantageous ice time, but he produces under those conditions, so it works. I would call that good coaching, rather than preferential treatment as some have suggested.

Don’t get me wrong: it sure was a bad game by Desharnais! I just like the fact that he bounced back in the 3rd after being kept on the bench during most of the 2nd period. It was the same thing with Eller: I like how he conducted himself during and after his time on 4th/press box. It shows character. "Chin up, don't pout" is something Leblanc must learn to do.

 

[DAChampion]

David Desharnais :
- Starts 57.3% of his zone starts in the offensive zone.
- Plays against a Corsi Rel QoC of -0.566, i.e. plays against players who don't usually score.
- Yet is somehow a -1 on the season.

That's right, he starts in the offensive zone against players who don't know how to score very well, and he is a "-" player on the season.

Another way of looking at it is that he tied for the worst +/- on the team, in spite of being 5th in offensive zone starts, and 5th in Corsi Rel QoC.

I know what his defenders will say. Price/Budaj only have an .870 save percentage when DD is on the ice, therefore DD is unlucky... however at some point we should consider the possibility that DD's subpar defensive play leads to high-quality shots from the opposition.

He was better last year. Two possibilities:

1) Statistical fluctuations. Desharnais is playing badly because he is unlucky. The goalies have an .870 save percentage when he is on the ice. Behindthenet.ca says the team is allowing ~21.8 shots against per 60 minutes when he is on the ice. If he's played ~513 ES minutes, that means the team has allowed 186 shots while he is on the ice at even strength. The probability of .920 goalies playing as .870 goalies when DD is on the ice, from pure luck, is about 4.75% (if you look up Z=1.67 in a standard normal table). It's not a huge number, but on the other hand it's big enough that you couldn't publish it in a medical journal, lol.

On the other hand, there are 23 players on the Habs, so you expect that one of them will be this unlucky, lol.

2) Teams watched tape of DD over the summer and developed anti-DD strategies. I don't know how to estimate the odds here.

 

[macavoy]

David Desharnais :
- Starts 57.3% of his zone starts in the offensive zone.
- Plays against a Corsi Rel QoC of -0.566, i.e. plays against players who don't usually score.
- Yet is somehow a -1 on the season.

That's right, he starts in the offensive zone against players who don't know how to score very well, and he is a "-" player on the season.

Another way of looking at it is that he tied for the worst +/- on the team, in spite of being 5th in offensive zone starts, and 5th in Corsi Rel QoC.

I know what his defenders will say. Price/Budaj only have an .870 save percentage when DD is on the ice, therefore DD is unlucky... however at some point we should consider the possibility that DD's subpar defensive play leads to high-quality shots from the opposition.

He was better last year. Two possibilities:

1) Statistical fluctuations. Desharnais is playing badly because he is unlucky. The goalies have an .870 save percentage when he is on the ice. Behindthenet.ca says the team is allowing ~21.8 shots against per 60 minutes when he is on the ice. If he's played ~513 ES minutes, that means the team has allowed 186 shots while he is on the ice at even strength. The probability of .920 goalies playing as .870 goalies when DD is on the ice, from pure luck, is about 4.75% (if you look up Z=1.67 in a standard normal table). It's not a huge number, but on the other hand it's big enough that you couldn't publish it in a medical journal, lol.

On the other hand, there are 23 players on the Habs, so you expect that one of them will be this unlucky, lol.

2) Teams watched tape of DD over the summer and developed anti-DD strategies. I don't know how to estimate the odds here.

I really enjoyed this. However, it would be good to compare apples to apples. I know it's probably a lot of work but could you do offensive zone starts, Corsica/ quality of opposition and goalie sv% stats for the other centers on the team: Pleks, Eller and Gally (I know he is playing wing mostly now but I'm curious how the young gaffer was sheltered and how he held up.

Again, awesome work.

 

[Natey]

David Desharnais :
- Starts 57.3% of his zone starts in the offensive zone.
- Plays against a Corsi Rel QoC of -0.566, i.e. plays against players who don't usually score.
- Yet is somehow a -1 on the season.

That's right, he starts in the offensive zone against players who don't know how to score very well, and he is a "-" player on the season.

Another way of looking at it is that he tied for the worst +/- on the team, in spite of being 5th in offensive zone starts, and 5th in Corsi Rel QoC.

I know what his defenders will say. Price/Budaj only have an .870 save percentage when DD is on the ice, therefore DD is unlucky... however at some point we should consider the possibility that DD's subpar defensive play leads to high-quality shots from the opposition.

He was better last year. Two possibilities:

1) Statistical fluctuations. Desharnais is playing badly because he is unlucky. The goalies have an .870 save percentage when he is on the ice. Behindthenet.ca says the team is allowing ~21.8 shots against per 60 minutes when he is on the ice. If he's played ~513 ES minutes, that means the team has allowed 186 shots while he is on the ice at even strength. The probability of .920 goalies playing as .870 goalies when DD is on the ice, from pure luck, is about 4.75% (if you look up Z=1.67 in a standard normal table). It's not a huge number, but on the other hand it's big enough that you couldn't publish it in a medical journal, lol.

On the other hand, there are 23 players on the Habs, so you expect that one of them will be this unlucky, lol.

2) Teams watched tape of DD over the summer and developed anti-DD strategies. I don't know how to estimate the odds here.

Find how many players have a SV% of less than .875% when players on the ice. The only players that did last year were the really bad player, and they were just below .900.

However, DD needs to improve his defensive play. The work ethic is there, but he chases the puck a little too much. But, IMO, Pacioretty has been just as terrible defensively. The guy is almost never covering his man.

I wouldn't mind splitting them up for a few games to see what else we've go, chemistry wise, come playoffs.

 

[DAChampion]

I really enjoyed this. However, it would be good to compare apples to apples. I know it's probably a lot of work but could you do offensive zone starts, Corsica/ quality of opposition and goalie sv% stats for the other centers on the team: Pleks, Eller and Gally (I know he is playing wing mostly now but I'm curious how the young gaffer was sheltered and how he held up.

Again, awesome work.

Thanks !

I'm not sure how to do Galchenyuk, because he has only been a center for a third of the season, and he has spent a lot of time with Eller. What I'll do is I'll take his stats and pretend they're center stats even though they are not.

Oh, and I'm only looking at even strength, specifically 5 on 5, no 4 on 4. I'll also write down how I do it so that it's repeatable.

1) Go to behindthenet.ca, check the tickmark on "zone starts"

- Desharnais starts in the ozone 145 times, neutral zone 139 times, defensive zone 100 times;
- Plekanec starts in the ozone 131 times, neutral zone 190 times, defensive zone 132 times;
- Lars Eler starts in the ozone 96 times, neutral zone 116 times, defensive zone 120 times;
- Galchenyuk starts in the ozone 114 times, neutral zone 121 times, defensive zone 89 times;
- White starts in the ozone 26 times, neutral zone 51 times, defensive zone 62 times

So DD has the most ozone starts in absolute terms, and the only one who starts more often in the offensive zone than either the neutral or defensive zone.
Plekanec leads in the neutral zone and the defensive zone in absolute terms.
Eller and White are the only one to start in the dzone more than any other zone.
Galchenyuk is sheltered, but not as much as DD.

Note: What they call "ozone percentage" is offensive zone start / (offensive zone start + defensive zone start); for this post I'm stating neutral zone starts as well.

2) Go to behindthenet.ca, check the columns "Corsi Rel QoC", "GF on", and ""on ice SV%";

- Desharnais plays against a Corsi Rel QoC of -0.665 (!!!), 21 goals have been allowed while he's been on the ice, with a save percentage of .868 and the opponents shoots 22.8 times per 60 minutes;
- Plekanec plays against a Corsi Rel QoC of +0.891, 12 goals have been allowed while he's been on the ice, with a save percentage of .930 and the opponents shoots 25.9 times per 60 minutes;
- Eller plays against a Corsi Rel QoC of +0.661, 8 goals have been allowed while he's been on the ice, with the goalies getting a .946 save percentage and the opponents shoots 26.9 times per 60 minutes;
- Galchenyuk plays against a Corsi Rel QoC of +0.157, 9 goals have been allowed while he's been on the ice, the goalies get a save percentage of .938 and the opponents shoots 26.5 times per 60 minutes;
- White plays against a Corsi Rel QoC of -0.892, 3 goals have been allowed while he's on the ice, goalies have a save percentage of .962 and the opponents shoots 28.9 times per 60 minutes;

I just realized I did something wrong in my previous post. I compared the odds of DD having a .870 save percentage from goalies who are really .920 goalies. However, first of all it is .868 not .870, which must be due to updated stats following today's game. Second, the goalies seem to do a lot better than .920 when DD is not on the ice; closer to .935? So the chasm in save percentage is actually a little wider.

It's actually shocking to me how very good Price/Budaj are at ES when DD is not on the ice.

3) Look up total ice time on nhl.com;
- Desharnais has 419 (the 513 from the previous post was wrong) of ES TOI, so there were ~159 shots against.
- Plekanec has 444 of ES TOI, so there were ~192 shots against
- Eller has 370 of ES TOI, so there were ~166 shots against
- Galchenyuk has 354 of ES TOI, so there were ~156 shots against.
- White has 186 of ES TOI, so there were ~90 shots against.

Someone check my numbers. I did not know where to find "total shots against", so I added saves against and goals against per 60 in my head, and multipled by total ES time, and then rounded again, to get total shots against. These numbers should be accurate to 1 or 2 %.

*************************************

Price and Budaj have allowed 21 even strength goals when DD is on the ice, out of ~159 shots. When he is not on the ice, Price and Budaj have allowed 29 goals on ~400 shots, for a .928 save percentage.

http://www.nhl.com/ice/playerstats....s&status=A&team=MTL&viewName=specialTeamSaves

5) Probabilities

So, for DD, 159 shots have been allowed, the save percentage is .868 when he is on the ice and .928 when he is not.

21 goals have been allowed, if the .928 was the true probability, it would be 11.5 goals allowed. That's a 9.5 goal deficit for DD, which is unlikely to be due to luck as I will show soon.

However, the statistical noise is sqrt(11.5) = 3.4 goals.

Thus, the difference is (21-11.5)/3.4 = 2.8 standard deviations, or only 0.3% probably.

I did a mistake in the last post. I now think that it is extremely unlikely that the difference in save percentage is due to "luck"; the odds are approximately 385 to 1. Unless one of my numbers is vastly off here, it appears Price and Budaj face more difficult shots when DD is on the ice.

 

[Milhouse40]

Thanks !

I'm not sure how to do Galchenyuk, because he has only been a center for a third of the season, and he has spent a lot of time with Eller. What I'll do is I'll take his stats and pretend they're center stats even though they are not.

Oh, and I'm only looking at even strength, specifically 5 on 5, no 4 on 4. I'll also write down how I do it so that it's repeatable.

1) Go to behindthenet.ca, check the tickmark on "zone starts"

- Desharnais starts in the ozone 145 times, neutral zone 139 times, defensive zone 100 times;
- Plekanec starts in the ozone 131 times, neutral zone 190 times, defensive zone 132 times;
- Lars Eler starts in the ozone 96 times, neutral zone 116 times, defensive zone 120 times;
- Galchenyuk starts in the ozone 114 times, neutral zone 121 times, defensive zone 89 times;
- White starts in the ozone 26 times, neutral zone 51 times, defensive zone 62 times

So DD has the most ozone starts in absolute terms, and the only one who starts more often in the offensive zone than either the neutral or defensive zone.
Plekanec leads in the neutral zone and the defensive zone in absolute terms.
Eller and White are the only one to start in the dzone more than any other zone.
Galchenyuk is sheltered, but not as much as DD.

Note: What they call "ozone percentage" is offensive zone start / (offensive zone start + defensive zone start); for this post I'm stating neutral zone starts as well.

2) Go to behindthenet.ca, check the columns "Corsi Rel QoC", "GF on", and ""on ice SV%";

- Desharnais plays against a Corsi Rel QoC of -0.665 (!!!), 21 goals have been allowed while he's been on the ice, with a save percentage of .868 and the opponents shoots 22.8 times per 60 minutes;
- Plekanec plays against a Corsi Rel QoC of +0.891, 12 goals have been allowed while he's been on the ice, with a save percentage of .930 and the opponents shoots 25.9 times per 60 minutes;
- Eller plays against a Corsi Rel QoC of +0.661, 8 goals have been allowed while he's been on the ice, with the goalies getting a .946 save percentage and the opponents shoots 26.9 times per 60 minutes;
- Galchenyuk plays against a Corsi Rel QoC of +0.157, 9 goals have been allowed while he's been on the ice, the goalies get a save percentage of .938 and the opponents shoots 26.5 times per 60 minutes;
- White plays against a Corsi Rel QoC of -0.892, 3 goals have been allowed while he's on the ice, goalies have a save percentage of .962 and the opponents shoots 28.9 times per 60 minutes;

I just realized I did something wrong in my previous post. I compared the odds of DD having a .870 save percentage from goalies who are really .920 goalies. However, first of all it is .868 not .870, which must be due to updated stats following today's game. Second, the goalies seem to do a lot better than .920 when DD is not on the ice; closer to .935? So the chasm in save percentage is actually a little wider.

It's actually shocking to me how very good Price/Budaj are at ES when DD is not on the ice.

3) Look up total ice time on nhl.com;
- Desharnais has 419 (the 513 from the previous post was wrong) of ES TOI, so there were ~159 shots against.
- Plekanec has 444 of ES TOI, so there were ~192 shots against
- Eller has 370 of ES TOI, so there were ~166 shots against
- Galchenyuk has 354 of ES TOI, so there were ~156 shots against.
- White has 186 of ES TOI, so there were ~90 shots against.

Someone check my numbers. I did not know where to find "total shots against", so I added saves against and goals against per 60 in my head, and multipled by total ES time, and then rounded again, to get total shots against. These numbers should be accurate to 1 or 2 %.

*************************************

Price and Budaj have allowed 21 even strength goals when DD is on the ice, out of ~159 shots. When he is not on the ice, Price and Budaj have allowed 29 goals on ~400 shots, for a .928 save percentage.

http://www.nhl.com/ice/playerstats....s&status=A&team=MTL&viewName=specialTeamSaves

5) Probabilities

So, for DD, 159 shots have been allowed, the save percentage is .868 when he is on the ice and .928 when he is not.

21 goals have been allowed, if the .928 was the true probability, it would be 11.5 goals allowed. That's a 9.5 goal deficit for DD, which is unlikely to be due to luck as I will show soon.

However, the statistical noise is sqrt(11.5) = 3.4 goals.

Thus, the difference is (21-11.5)/3.4 = 2.8 standard deviations, or only 0.3% probably.

I did a mistake in the last post. I now think that it is extremely unlikely that the difference in save percentage is due to "luck"; the odds are approximately 385 to 1. Unless one of my numbers is vastly off here, it appears Price and Budaj face more difficult shots when DD is on the ice.

This is an amazing post.

Luck can be a factor......but still, not the only factor and the difference between DD and the other center on the team, it can not be ignore anymore.

And that's what i've been saying for the last month. It is not normal that DD has been on the ice for more goals at 5 on 5 than any D playing 6 to 8 minutes more a game...hell, more than any player on this team.

It's not normal with all the Ozone starts, and playing against defensive minded opponents.

Even last night....he was the one, again, on the ice for the only goal at 5 on 5.


MTL allowed 45 goals in ES
DD was on the ice for 23 of them.

Leaving 22 goals for all the other 3 lines COMBINED.....this is becoming a real problem.....and this could become a real burden in the PO.

Your number were right....changed a little with the last two games!!

 

[Milhouse40]

AAnd is there somebody smart enough to explain to me how in the HELL DD is still on the first wave on the Powerplay with Subban and Markov???

1 points in his last 24 games
0 points in his 14 games.

He got 4 points in powerplay (2 of them at 5 on 3) since the beginning of the season
So technicallym he got only 2 points 5 on 4 in 31 games, and we still give him the first wave with the two of the best D on the PP

Plekanec got 12 points with the same PP ice-time
Eller got 3 points with 85% less ice-time in PP¸

I simply don't get why?

It's not like we don't have any other option (Eller or Galchenyuk)

 

[MXD]

AAnd is there somebody smart enough to explain to me how in the HELL DD is still on the first wave on the Powerplay with Subban and Markov???

1 points in his last 24 games
0 points in his 14 games.

He got 4 points in powerplay (2 of them at 5 on 3) since the beginning of the season
So technicallym he got only 2 points 5 on 4 in 31 games, and we still give him the first wave with the two of the best D on the PP

Plekanec got 12 points with the same PP ice-time
Eller got 3 points with 85% less ice-time in PP¸

I simply don't get why?

It's not like we don't have any other option (Eller or Galchenyuk)

Here's a point where I agree with you (it doesn't often happen )

But my rationale is a bit different.

The Habs have 4 Centers who make sense on the PP.

When of them is on a bad game, or when one is playing great, why not toggle the lines accordingly? I don't use points per se -- sometimes, a player can make a good job on a given play, without getting an assist.

Besides, one of those centers could also play Wing if needed.

I guess Therrien's motives for playing DD on pretty much every PP is that he doesn't get regular PK time, as opposed to TP and LE. That sortof MAKE sense, but I guess having Halpern could change this a bit?

 

[Milhouse40]

Here's a point where I agree with you (it doesn't often happen )

But my rationale is a bit different.

The Habs have 4 Centers who make sense on the PP.

When of them is on a bad game, or when one is playing great, why not toggle the lines accordingly? I don't use points per se -- sometimes, a player can make a good job on a given play, without getting an assist.

Besides, one of those centers could also play Wing if needed.

I guess Therrien's motives for playing DD on pretty much every PP is that he doesn't get regular PK time, as opposed to TP and LE. That sortof MAKE sense, but I guess having Halpern could change this a bit?

I'm not saying to not give him any powerplay either.
Just not the first wave with PK and Markov every single time.

I admit that i am dying to see Galchenyuk or Eller on the PP in hbis place lately, but for good reason also.

DD proves to me he can pass....but last night again, he prove to me he can't shoot (in the same PP he had a open door to shoot twice and did not fire and prefer to make a suicide pass to Markov instead). He can screen but Eller or Galchy would be better at doing that.

 

[Natey]

I'm not saying to not give him any powerplay either.
Just not the first wave with PK and Markov every single time.

I admit that i am dying to see Galchenyuk or Eller on the PP in hbis place lately, but for good reason also.

DD proves to me he can pass....but last night again, he prove to me he can't shoot (in the same PP he had a open door to shoot twice and did not fire and prefer to make a suicide pass to Markov instead). He can screen but Eller or Galchy would be better at doing that.

Don't know what games your watching, but DD doesnt usually get first wave anymore unless the Plekanec line was just on the ice. Pleks/Ryder/Gionta start most PPs.

I agree about the shooting 100%. He's actually scored a few goals this year, so you think he'd shoot more anyway. Drives me nuts sometimes.

To be fair, our PP is pretty one dimensional now (with good reason - Subban's shot is awesome right now). Not an excuse, just the truth. Last night was one of the first times I've seen DD try a cross ice pass on the PP all year. Normally, our PP is move the puck down the corners to open up the point, pass it back, pass it between Subban, Markov, and then someone on the half boards until Subban shoots.

 

[Milhouse40]

Don't know what games your watching, but DD doesnt usually get first wave anymore unless the Plekanec line was just on the ice. Pleks/Ryder/Gionta start most PPs.

I agree about the shooting 100%. He's actually scored a few goals this year, so you think he'd shoot more anyway. Drives me nuts sometimes.

To be fair, our PP is pretty one dimensional now (with good reason - Subban's shot is awesome right now). Not an excuse, just the truth. Last night was one of the first times I've seen DD try a cross ice pass on the PP all year. Normally, our PP is move the puck down the corners to open up the point, pass it back, pass it between Subban, Markov, and then someone on the half boards until Subban shoots.

Watch closely.....Plekanec only got the first wave when DD's line was on the ice for the Penalties. And i am 200% sure of what i'm saying about this, cause i've been complaining about this for the last 3 weeks....it's something that pisses me off when i watch a game and hope for a change scenario

 

[onemorecup*]

AAnd is there somebody smart enough to explain to me how in the HELL DD is still on the first wave on the Powerplay with Subban and Markov???

1 points in his last 24 games
0 points in his 14 games.

He got 4 points in powerplay (2 of them at 5 on 3) since the beginning of the season
So technicallym he got only 2 points 5 on 4 in 31 games, and we still give him the first wave with the two of the best D on the PP

Plekanec got 12 points with the same PP ice-time
Eller got 3 points with 85% less ice-time in PP¸

I simply don't get why?

It's not like we don't have any other option (Eller or Galchenyuk)

exactly my point

 

[Natey]

Watch closely.....Plekanec only got the first wave when DD's line was on the ice for the Penalties. And i am 200% sure of what i'm saying about this, cause i've been complaining about this for the last 3 weeks....it's something that pisses me off when i watch a game and hope for a change scenario

It's really not true though. DD started the year with the most PP TOI/game besides Diaz and Markov. Now, he's fallen to 9th on the team (deservedly so). They definitely aren't the first unit anymore.

 

[Ohashi_Jouzu*]

It's really not true though. DD started the year with the most PP TOI/game besides Diaz and Markov. Now, he's fallen to 9th on the team (deservedly so). They definitely aren't the first unit anymore.

Actually, it's both true and not true - which is to say it happens more than just "randomly", but isn't true all the time. Going backwards through the shift charts of recent games, the trend he's describing is there. One game that really "bucked the trend" recently, though, was the Islanders game, where timing/zone of the shifts seemingly had little to do with deciding between Pleks/DD for the 1st wave of the powerplay. Powerplay went 2-4; Plekanec with 2 assists on the PP.

 

[WakeUpNHL]

Desharnais' contract is Marc Bergevin' first mistake as GM.
DD is not good enough offensively to compensate for his defensive liabilities.

 

[MXD]

exactly my point

Sorry dude...

But your point is basically that DD sucks and that he should pivot the Bulldogs 2nd line.

 

[Hoople]

exactly my point

But there is something wrong with your point.

Eller is not the production king as you make him out to be.

He has only 4 goals this season. His shot % is 6.8% and DD's is 18.6%.

And dont even try to throw out that he is not on the PP. Hell, the way our PP is going lately, its all on Subban to shoot the puck.

Eller fanboys are annoying.

 

[Dharvey33]

Plekanec is better and Eller will soon be better than Desharnais. He has got a good vision but he's soft bot really good defensively and not a good scorer.

I hope we can flip him for a decent winger at the draft i'm not a big fans of him. The DD line was good ofensively last year but were garbage defensively as well so it kind of evens up. Only thing we saw was that they had 60 plus points each but still we finished 15 th in the east.

Eller or galchenyuk instead of Desharnais on the pp for sure.

 

[Tyson]

Desharnais' contract is Marc Bergevin' first mistake as GM.
DD is not good enough offensively to compensate for his defensive liabilities.

I totally agree. While this contract won't break the bank. It was highly unnecessary

 

[Kjell Dahlin]

I totally agree. While this contract won't break the bank. It was highly unnecessary

Do you also agree with WakeUpNHL when he/she mentioned that Desharnais is a buy out candidate?

Ref.:

Was at the Bell Center for the game and I was watching DD the whole game. He is playing like crap, already floating, Habs will regret that contract, he hasn't done anything since he signed that 4 year deal.

Let me be the first to say I would not be surprised if he is bought out this summer.

 

[Born in 1909]

DD is local and gets preferential treatment.

Just say it.

(... although I am not saying he is 100% awful)

 

[WhiskeySeven*]

What's interesting to me is that DAChamp goes though a lot of statistics to say something that some of us could see plainly but couldn't really prove without his analysis.

I've been saying that DD's fundamentals are lacking since before the season started - it's not a bad contract (3.5m really isn't) but he doesn't deserve so much playing time or such good linemates. Eller has a much high ceiling, as does, obviously, Galchenyuk.